Ludology.org

Home sweet home, B-movie style

I come from a blessed land. This tiny country in South America does not often show up on the international radar. But something big, really big, has happened and I am even prouder of being Uruguayan. Why? Let's put it this way: the new Steven Seagal movie is set in Uruguay. Submerged, the newest straight-to-video Seagal masterpiece, happens to be set in Uruguay. The plot involves some ambassadors being murdered, a submarine that is hijacked and blowing up Uruguay's largest water dam. I haven't seen the movie yet but you bet I am going to rent it asap. Yes, the reviewers online are saying that this is one of the very worst movies ever made but what do they know? I will just pay in order to see the beautiful Uruguayan landscapes...wait a second, the movie was filmed in Bulgaria? Well, Bulgaria, Uruguay, it's amazing what special FX people can do nowadays with a Pentium IV and some patience. It even seems that the film features mayan ruins... we were never aware of having any Mayans at all in Uruguay but, hey, thanks Steven for finding those ruins I bet it will increase the flow of tourists. Thanks Oh Lord, finally somebody paid attention to our beautiful country!

Of pro mini golfers and miniature houses

A New York Times article (free registration required) about professional mini-golf players. The journalist wonders about why pro golfers are worshiped like semi-gods, while pro mini golfers are not even mini-worshiped at all. I always loved mini-golf because of its microworld qualities. It is certainly much closer to videogames than traditional golf (think miniature garden meets lovely little traps.)rWhen my sister was born I was 5 years old and I spent the day with my father’s cousin while my mom at the hospital. That particular day I was treated like a king and I was taken to the amusement park. There was a little car circuit (very simple, I think it was shaped like an O) and I remember requesting Emerson Fittipaldi’s car (a very popular Brazilian F1 racer during the 70s). I was given a yellow car and the guy assured me that it was an exact replica of Fittipaldi’s car (I bet that those days he said the exact same thing to every single kid racing on his game.) The fact is that there were these little house (about 1 meter tall) in the center of the track. I was fascinated by its windows and I think I spent most of the time trying to get a peek inside them. I was more interested in the little houses than on my car but, sadly, my ride was on a rail and the center of the track was off-limits to everybody. I am telling this because many years later, when I played mini gold, I remembered that car ride. There was a miniature house in the mini golf and that was probably what triggered my early memories. It was quite ugly and not very detailed –the ones on the racing track were far prettier and much more detailed. I still could not enter the miniature house, not even take a look inside it, but it was far more accessible that the one on the racing track because I was able to send my golf ball inside it and that made all the difference.
rrI guess we always expect videogames to fulfill our fantasies of total freedom, but games always fail at this because total freedom does not make any sense at all. Games are limited, by definition (if you have total freedom you cannot be playing a game). Bad videogames are like the racing track houses: they have highly detailed featured, but they are only skin deep and that only enhances the player’s frustration. Mini golf is well aware of its limitations: it models the experience in a simpler way. It still does not allow players to visit the miniature house, but at least turns the house into something meaningful than can be explored through the golf ball. Certainly, I did not have any vision of little people living inside it as I did when I was 5 years old, but mini golf’s familiar buildings (the house, the windmill) still do a great job at transporting players into an alternate mini world. There is certainly not much need for next-gen graphics processors to enhance gameplay, it suffices not trying to exceed players expectations. No matter how hard we try, we will never able to simulate realistically life inside our miniature make-believe houses. Besides, there is no real need to do it: the only thing that needs to be mimicked is not life itself but the illusion that life may exist inside those tiny houses. The old principle of suggesting rather than showing is still valid in the computer world. Videogames are not about what you can do, but about the players' illusion of what could be done. It's a subtle, but essential difference that both game developers and players have been trying to explore in the last decades. There is still a long road ahead but never think that games will get better when we code better AI into them: they will only improve as we discover better ways to get deeper into the player's imagination.

Silly 1000th post

I know it's silly, but this is Ludology.org's 1.000th post. You know, 10 fingers we have, round figures we love. I promise not to meta-post about post numbers until post # 10.000. At this rate, that will be in a few decades. Anyway, that's it, onetwothree....one thousand.

Chess remixed

Wired has an article on Chess960, a variation of traditional chess invented by Bobby Fischer. The game plays like chess, only that some of the pieces start the game in a semi-random position. The idea behind this change is to eliminate rote memorization of openings (different ways to start a game that have been analyzed so much over the years that basically all you have to do is memorize what to do next in order to have an optimal start). Of course, if players do play traditional chess by openings templates, maybe it would suffice to let the first mover to select an opening and then "advance" the game 20 moves and literally start the game from that position. But of course I think the semi-randomic solution has an appeal of its own: introducing random feels a bit like a sacrilege in the mind-over-matter world of Chess. Mr Fischer, a natural provocateur, may not have only invented a new version of chess, but also a way of pissing off the establishment. Once again, another proof that games can express ideas.

Punch&Judy, the game

(via Edge) Punch Punch Punch Revolution. Really old school gaming, mixes puppets with Tekken. Nice.

Mario does physics

A Mario Flash movie where you can learn some concepts of physics. Created by two students for their physics class. Worth taking a look at it, even if it is just because of its coolness rather than its educational value.

The Godfather

The New York Times (free reg. req.) on E.A.'s upcoming The Godfather game.

CFP: Game programming

SCP (Science of Computer Programming) will publish a special issue on games programming edited by Dr. Karl de Leeuw. Deadline is October 1st and here's more information about it.

Now it's London

If you want to find a way to give the finger to the murderer bastards who blew up the bombs this morning in London, just show them that you are not afraid of them. Travel to London and, even better, go to GDC Europe this August.

Indiegamescon 2005

Sponsored by GarageGames. IndieGamesCon will take place on October 7-9th, 2005 in Eugene, Oregon, USA.